In a mine, ground support, e.g. rock bolts and screening, is used to prevent rock falls. Several different types of rock bolts may be used but all require that holes be drilled in the rock first. This is done with equipment known as rock bolters. These are mobile units with a bolting head attached. To drill a hole in the rock to install ground support, the bolting head is placed against the rock face (which is called “stinging the face”) and then a hole is drilled into the rock. The unit is then indexed to install the ground support.
Conventionally, the bolter feeds have a fixed stinger. This is the part of the feed that stabilizes the feed assembly against the rock during the drilling process. With the conventional systems, the whole feed assembly must move to the rock face. In other words, in conventional rock bolter systems, the rock drill feed and the bolting feed are connected together and thus extend and retract. This is problematic in tight areas and in some cases makes indexing difficult.
A need therefore exists for an effective solution to this technical problem.